To me this is like the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo during WWII. The tactical result isn't important, the range of the strike is, and that it happened at all. Japan thought it was immune from air attack on the home islands in 1942, and the raid shocked them.

Iran is showing the world (especially Europe), that it's more vulnerable than it thinks. Europe has more skin in the game than just the price of oil and nitrogen. Also think about what would happen if Iran is able to recreate something like the Cuban missile crisis now that we've moved a bunch of our military assets to the middle east.

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ttul 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Strategically, it seems like a dumb move. Right now, Congress is unlikely to approve Trump’s request for $200B to fund the war effort. But if Americans can be convinced that Iran could somehow hit American cities, they would call their members of Congress in a heartbeat and that money would presumably flow without interruption.

Why time the medium range missiles now? It seems like yet another own-goal for this desperate and poorly coordinated regime.

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mmmm2 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I can't speak for Iran, but it may be a warning against attempting to land troops on Kharg Island. They're showing that they've been "nice" so far, but they have escalation paths America may not have considered. I think most people thought they were limited to short range missile strikes.

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tuna74 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Or the US could just stop bombing Iran? Then there would be no reason for Iran to attack American cities.

	▲	mmmm2 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah, that would be nice. I'm worried this will continue to escalate.

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vasac 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Americans can be convinced of anything without too much effort so that isn’t really a factor here.